Queensland Minister for Tourism, Manufacturing and Small Business, The Hon. Jan Jarratt MP, visited Alstom Grid’s historic Rocklea factory in early July to celebrate the successful completion of a $15 million upgrade project. Alstom Grid’s Rocklea factory in Queensland is a leading power transfomer manufacturing unit with more than 60 years of experience in manufacturing electrical transmission equipment.
Minister Jarratt joined senior Alstom executives to address all employees at the facility and unveil a commemorative plaque celebrating the successful completion of the development.
“From 2009 to 2011, Alstom invested $15 million into modernising the factory with a focus on improving safety, productivity and quality,” Alstom Australia CEO, Chris Raine said.
“With an annual local spend of around $25 million, the Rocklea transformer factory is an important part of the community. In addition to the 300 people we employ at the Rocklea facility, our local supply chain accounts for around 100 indirect jobs locally,” he said.
Gantry cranes and an air-skating system driven by manpower and forklifts used for moving transformers and other large-size components have been replaced by an air-cushion mobility system. This system has the advantage of being safer to operate and heavy loads can be manoeuvred with greater accuracy and precision.
Other improvements to the Rocklea transformer factory include the installation of replacement vapour phase plants for production savings and improvements.
